HomePCMac10 Best macOS Email Clients You Should Use
  • I’ll start with the compulsory disclaimer - I’m founder of Hiri, and we’ve built an email client for mac. It’s free for up to 5 users in your company (or just you). It’s free for up to 5 users in your company (or just you).
  • Apple Mail is the default email client that comes with every Mac using OS X 10.0 or later. This guide will show you how to configure your Apple Mail application to access email for your Media Temple server.

Over the years, as operating systems have matured, one need that has survived the test of time is emailing. From web-based clients to desktop ones, the need for a working email solution has always been there, especially in today’s digital world. And email clients — both web-based and desktop — have come a long way, too. However, there’s still room for improvement.

In OS X (now macOS), the native Mail app has been pretty capable, and over the last several years, this is one of those areas of the operating system that has seen consistent improvement. It’s a pretty capable client that just works, but there are naturally better alternatives. In this article, we take a look at some of the best third-party macOS email clients that exist today:

Best Email Apps for Mac Platform The common reasons people usually leave Mac Mail app and opt for a third party one is usually the lack of delete and archive options as separate functions in the Mail app, or no Dropbox integration for instance.

1. Airmail

Of all the email clients that you can find for macOS, Airmail is arguably going to top every list. Currently in its 3rd iteration, Airmail is the one client that you can rely on for speed and stability while delivering an experience that matches and improves on the native Mail app in OS X. It’s one of the cleanest email clients out there today, that supports iCloud (naturally), MS Exchange, Gmail & Google Apps, IMAP/POP3, Yahoo!, Outlook.com and AOL (who still uses that, anyway?). Airmail comes with multi-account support with a unified inbox, alias management, quick replies and interactions, gesture support, great folder and filter management, works well with Time Machine, can interact with other productivity apps like Evernote, Fantastical, native Calendar and Reminders etc. and so much more.

The complete list of features is pretty exhaustive — there’s a reason why Airmail is hands down the best third-party macOS email client. Airmail exists for iPhone/iPad as well, and supports Handoff if you’re using it on both devices.

Install Airmail ($9.99)

2. Unibox

Unibox is ‘unique’, to say the least. This email client takes a different approach towards email organization, grouping emails by the person you’re interacting with and not by subject/thread (that’s doable, too, of course). The premise is that whenever you’re interacting with anyone, you have a full context available of your past conversations. In practice, this works pretty well, although if you don’t interact a lot with the same people every day, you’ll get frustrated pretty easily. Unibox’s email management approach is something that’s hardly a one-size-fits-all, so experience it yourself to reach a verdict.

Other features in Unibox are pretty familiar. There’s a wide support for a variety of email services as well as POP3/IMAP, unified inbox with multi-account support, an attachment grid that let’s you view all attachments that you’d have received (I find this particularly useful), quick actions from email preview etc. Unbox also features an iOS app for a more complete package across the board.

Install Unibox ($15.99)

3. Inky

Inky is all about secure emailing. This cross platform email client, which is available for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android, focuses on encrypted and digitally signed email to ensure that your email exchanges are secure and from/with the right person, no matter which email provider you’re using. Because Inky is more of a service than just being an email client, it comes in different tiers, with the free version supporting Gmail, iCloud and Outlook.com, while the Pro version ($5 a month) gives you MS Exchange, Office 365, Google Apps and other IMAP services. An enterprise tier is also available for large organizations.

The biggest advantage you get with Inky is private and secure email, which is great if email encryption is your biggest pet peeve. You also get a powerful search index, allowing for finding emails no matter how old they are or how obscure. Inky also supports unified inbox for multiple email accounts, has smart email suggestions (will ensure that you’re sending email from the right account), powerful filters and cloud-based settings profiles that ensure that your settings are reflected across all your devices, be it desktop or mobile.

Install Inky (Free, Pro $5/month)

4. Postbox

Getting A Email Client For Mac

Postbox is yet another email client with a service element. The client is all about managing email overload in the most efficient manner possible. Postbox’s biggest strength is the four-part interface that helps with focus. These comprise of the Focus Pane, which basically separates email on the basis of attributes (is it a reminder? is it a subscription-based email? does it have attachments) and separates them into different labels. The second part is topics. which can break email overload into meaningful chunks (all emails related to a particular project, for instance). Finally, you get favorite contacts, which don’t really need an explanation.

Other features to improve email management include a favorites bar, account groups, and something that you don’t see in email clients a lot: tabs. I find tabs most intriguing, as they enable you to stay focused on one thing at a time without losing sight of others. Postbox also features quick replies, which are basically templates should you need to send the same kind of response frequently. Postbox is available for Windows and macOS. It will set you back $20 for a single-user license, but is worth it.

Install Postbox ($20)

5. Canary Mail

Canary Mail is a new entrant in the macOS email client arena that focuses on ease of use and simplicity augmented by a beautifully designed interface. Canary is in beta as of this writing, but that’s a good thing, because that means you get to use the client — no strings attached — for free (they will have both free and paid versions when they do a commercial launch). Canary has all the features that you’d have come to expect from a capable email client, with the additional option to ‘snooze’ emails (something that the good old Mailbox popularized before it was shut down). Snoozing an email means it will come back to your inbox when you’re ready for it (depending on how you want to handle your email load).

Canary supports Gmail, Yahoo!, Outlook, FastMail and any other IMAP account, and comes with a unified inbox. It also features an attachment browser, stores emails locally with encryption and has a small memory footprint. It’s one email client that you should try out just because it’s worth it.

Install Canary Mail Beta (Free)

6. Mail Pilot

Mail Pilot is one email client that gets its wide acclaim over the internet from the unique approach that it takes toward email. The creators of Mail Pilot believe (and perhaps rightly so) that most email these days are “tasks” and so, even if you’ve “read” a message, it is practically “unread” because the required action has not been taken yet. The idea is that once you’re done taking the required action on an email, you can mark it as “complete”, just like you would for a task, and it will get archived.

Haven’t got time for an email yet? Set a reminder for it to come back when you will have time, and forget about it until then (similar to Snooze in other email clients). For other scenarios, you can create Lists, like Waiting for More Information, Waiting for Reply etc., and put relevant emails in those lists as applicable. Mail Pilot’s unique approach might take a little getting used to, but it works wonders once you’ve set it all up. Mail Pilot is available for both iOS and macOS, and can be obtained on the latter for a $20 one-time payment.

Install Mail Pilot ($20)

7. Nylas N1

Nylas N1 is the most curious new email client that I’ve ever come across. It’s an open source email client that gets its uniqueness from being open to developers. So, in effect, anybody with knowledge can take Nylas N1 and customize and tweak it to their liking and needs, and deploy in whatever environment they like. Since not everybody is a developer, there are some standard features of N1, too, and that’s what we’ll focus on. Nylas has a pretty decent suite of features, with the most standout being its built-in support for Mail Merge. That means Nylas is ideal for deployment in large organizations.

There is message scheduling, calendar integration and tracking, and a host of other plugins that enhance the functionality beyond what it is capable of, out of the box. All the usual bells and whistles — unified inbox, search, email service provider compatibility, aliases etc — are available, too. Nylas is free for the developer version, and has paid higher pricing tiers. It’s worth exploring, that’s for sure.

Install Nylas N1 (Free)

8. Polymail

Polymail is another capable email client for macOS as well as iPhone and iPad that enables better control over email for an average user. It combines powerful email tracking features with scheduled emails, and is one of the few email clients that allow you to control the exact time that you want your scheduled messages to be sent at. There’s snoozing emails for later use, option to unsend a message (much like Gmail’s experimental Undo feature) within several seconds of hitting send, and best of all, one-click unsubscribe to emails that you don’t want to receive anymore.

Polymail supports Gmail, Google Apps, iCloud, Outlook and Office 365 for now, with IMAP support coming later. It also carries a unified inbox with combined search to find the right message, no matter which account it was received on. All of this, and more, comes in a neatly designed package that works seamlessly well on both iPhone and your Mac.

Install Polymail (Free)

9. CloudMagic

CloudMagic is one email client that gained popularity from iPhone and Android, and has now expanded to cover the macOS desktop space as well. Naturally, with that much experience under its belt, CloudMagic delivers a solid experience. It focuses on being clean and pleasing on the eyes while providing as much functionality as it can, including support for Gmail, Exchange, Yahoo!, Outlook.com, Office 365 and all the regular players. Other features include the standard set of aliases, a unified inbox, quick filters and actions, HTML support, keyboard shortcuts, rich sender profiles (subscription based), advanced printing controls and multi-language support.

CloudMagic is a pretty solid contender, except that its $20 price tag is a tad on the higher side, especially considering that the mobile apps for CloudMagic are free. Still, you have an option if that’s what you prefer.

Install CloudMagic ($20)

Getting A Email Client For Mac 2018

10. Mailplane

Mailplane is one of those apps that have been around for longer than most others, and it’s hard to classify it as an “email” client, because all this app supports is Gmail and Google Apps. Why, then, is it in our list? Because Gmail and Google Apps are widely used, and for that, it’s hard to find a better experience on Mac other than Mailplane. This app allows you to enjoy a number of native-app features while retaining the power and functionality of Gmail, combining the best of both worlds.

There’s preview and annotate for attachments directly within Mailplane, and integrations allow you to utilize a number of third-party apps with Gmail, including macOS’s native Share menu, Todoist, Omnifocus, Evernote, Apple Photos, automation via AppleScript and much more. Mailplane has multi-language support, and integrates Gmail plugins like Rapportive, Boomerang etc. Mailplane is paid, with a single-user license costing $25.

Install Mailplane ($25)

SEE ALSO: 15 Totally Awesome Productivity Apps For Mac

Try out the top 10 email clients for macOS

These are our top 10 picks for best email clients available on macOS, as of now. It’s worth mentioning that the native Mail client itself is very capable and gets new features and enhancements with almost every new iteration of macOS, but it’s still not as powerful as some of these third-party options. Another honorable mention goes to Thunderbird – another open source client that has been around since time immemorial and has seen a bunch of feature updates, even if its interface has become dated by today’s standards.

So, do you have a favorite email client for macOS that we missed out on? Let us know in the comments section below.


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Apple Mail is one of the best email apps for Mac users. This Mac Email client is well designed for Apple ecosystem and works well with OS X and iOS devices. This built-in Mac email client works well with most of the email providers like Gmail, iCloud, Outlook, Yahoo, etc. There are a lot of other best email app for Mac that performs well in speed with great additional features, compared to the UI and features offered by Apple for native OS X Mail client. Most of these Mac email clients support cloud attached files to email, a helpful feature while you send extremely large files.

Getting a email client for mac free

We pick the best email clients for Mac that meet your expectations when you work on Mac.

Airmail 3

Airmail is the best Mac Mail App on Apple Store. This excellent Mac email client offers similar performance with a single or numerous emails accounts. This app selected as one of the best email client for Mac that is ideal for those who have multiple email accounts.

Airmail supports iCloud, MS Exchange, Gmail, Google Apps, IMAP, POP3, Yahoo!, AOL, Outlook.com, Live.com. This Mac Email client is clean and offers a smooth delivery of emails without any interruption. The built-in features like Quick reply and move messages to different mailboxes are going to save a lot of time for Mac users. You can quickly preview attachments right from the main Airmail screen without opening the email thread and quick label them. In addition to this, Airmail bring you a cool feature that let you schedule email to send later, going to love this feature to schedule Birthday or Aniversary wishes in advance.

Apple Store Link: Airmail for Mac ($9.99)

Related: How to Send Multiple Email Attachments from iOS?

Spark

Spark email client is my favorite email app that let you quickly see what is inside of an email (quick preview) and you can neglect or delete. Spark is a real time saver when you are dealing with a lot of spam and junk emails mixed with official emails. The main feature of Spark for Mac, that makes this email app so unique from other email clients is Smart Inbox that arranges all the emails into cards. Spark Email classifies the email into diverse groups, Personal, Newsletters, and Notification. The user can tell Spark app which email is important to make it learn about the important emails.

Spark always keep update features with new Mac hardware and the latest update comes with Touch Bar and Snooze capabilities. The email client has quick action gestures that can be customizable whenever needed. Spark is a lightweight and powerful email client allow to schedule emails on Mac. These unique features make this Mac email client as one of the best Mac email apps on Apple store.

Apple Store Link: Spark for Mac (free)

Related: 10 Best Email Apps for Android Phone and Tablet

Boxy

Boxy is an unofficial client for Inbox by Gmail. This Mac mail app comes with similar features to Google’s Inbox. This Mac Email software offers a modern and clean UI on your Mac screen for the emails. You can use this email client in full screen as well as split screen mode to get better user experience.

The email program comes with an innovative feature. Boxy email application allows the user to start writing an email and continue it afterward on an iOS device. A fascinating Reader mode is also present for the people providing them everything expect from the text.

Apple Store Link: Boxy for Mac ($5.99)

Mail Inbox

The developers call the Mail Inbox as the unofficial client for Google Inbox. This Mac mail app offers the users a sleek and responsive interface and one for the best email app for Mac for Gmail users. Like other Mac email clients, Mail Inbox supports multiple email accounts along with Google Inbox. This Mac email app lets you hide email attachments preview to clean your Inbox and offer a neat preview of the inbox.

Getting A Email Client For Mac Os

With the Mail Inbox, you can start writing the mail and continue it later on mobile like the feature offered in the Boxy email client. The Email App works with any Gmail account and offers a cool experience with amazing features. With Mail Inbox Mac client, you can set snooze to take care the emails later and reminders for the emails to be notified later.

Apple Store Link: Mail Inbox (free)

MailTab Pro

MailTab Pro is a sleek and attractive email program for Mac, that stay on Mac menu bar. This Mail menu icon is to give you a quick access to your Gmail account just with a click from the Mac menu bar. The audio alerts are customizable alert you about a new email as soon as it comes into inbox.

The UI customization let you keep the Email app UI window transparent, with a unique slider. You can resize the Email App window or tab to get more working space on your Mac screen for multi-tasking. This Mail Tap Pro is one of best email client for Mac with the minimal design concept and lightweight.

Apple Store Link: MailTab Pro ($2.99)

Unibox for Mac

Unibox is one of the best email software for Mac, but expensive compared to other apps. This Mac people-centric email program organizing the mails by the originating thread. The first thing that the tool states is neatness, does not have a crowded mailbox. The mails are sorted based on weekdays and the sender along with their profile photos.

All incoming emails are compiled and organized under the same thread based on the name of the sender. You can use multiple identities with one account and use the services offered. With Unibox, you can visually browse through the present attachment and preview them easily with Quick Look and filter the emails according to type for better viewing.

Apple Store Link: Unibox for Mac ($15.99)

Direct Mail

Try Direct Mail App and end your search for an easy to use and feature-rich email program. It is the perfect Mac email app for powerful and efficient email marketing campaigns. You can import contacts from other email programs already present on the Mac. The user can automate all your email campaigns by autoresponders, going to be a huge time-saving feature.

Direct Mail allows 50 emails a month to send free. In order to send more, the user has to use in-app purchase to unlock it. With this marketing email client, you can create customizable forms with the tool whenever needed. With Direct Mail, you can make your email campaigns more interesting and great.

Apple Store Link: Direct Mail (free)

Mozilla Thunderbird

Most of these third-party Mac email clients work well with the email providers like native Mac Mail App. However, these third-party email client apps like Airmail, Spark, Box, etc. are drawing users attention with their amazing features and simple interface.

Best Email Client For Mac

Related: This is How you can Setup iCloud Email with Windows10

Getting A Email Client For Mac Free

We listed the best email app for Mac. These Mac email apps do more than just reading your emails. These email clients offer some good extended functionality to make your life smooth and fast. You can select one of these best mail apps for Mac, that can handle your official emails and personal emails right from one client on Mac.